Short hops and hard knocks with Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

Future of the Red Sox

This is the Future’s Game, which explains why the Future of the Red Sox are here at gorgeous AT&T Park in San Francisco today. Jacoby Ellsbury, fresh off his six-day stint in Boston, decided that he did not want to miss this game. Ellsbury is leading off for the U.S. Team and playing left field.

He was perhaps the most sought after player by the media this morning. ESPN got an on-field
interview with him, and several others — including yours truly — swarmed in thereafter. Clay Buchholz, who I guess you could say is the Red Sox equivalent of Ellsbury — the best pitching prospect in the organization — is also here, and ready to pitch an inning of relief. Clay might be headed

to Pawtucket after the All-Star break, but he’s still waiting for official confirmation on that. Buchholz made his most recent appearance for Portland in the bullpen in preparation for this game. Would he be comfortable doing that same role in Boston later this year if needed? Absolutely. In fact, Buchholz said he would welcome it. Anything to get to the big leagues seems to be his attitude.

At any rate, this is an exciting time for the Red Sox right now when you look at two kids of this caliber at at an event like this. They aren’t just Red Sox prospects, they are two of the best prospects in all of baseball. I remember being at the Futures Game two years ago and seeing Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez representing the Red Sox. Somehow, I don’t think Ellsbury and Buchholz are getting traded to the Marlins.

Here is what Buchholz had to say:

on the season: “It’s sort of been a little blur because you don’t ever
expect to go out and do as well as everything has been going this year. You
expect there to be a couple of bumps in the road and there hasn’t really been
that many for me yet. Hopefully there’s no bumps and I can keep it rolling but
I’m not going to get all bent out of shape about it if there’s a couple. I’m
trying to ride that little wave right now and it’s been good so far.”

Where do you go after the All-Star break? “I’ve been told that I might be going to Pawtucket, that would be great. That’s what
you want to do in Minor League Baseball, move up in the ranks. That would be
fun for me. if it doesn’t happen, I’m happy pitching in Portland. It’s a great place to pitch.”

Pitched in relief in last Minor League outing: “That
was just to get ready for this [Futures Game]. I talked to Theo and he wanted
to make sure I knew what it felt like before I went out there. It’s my first
relief appearance in pro ball. it was different but I’ll hang with ‘em and get
through it.”

Could you see yourself getting up to Boston this year? “I’d like to say so. That’s
a goal for me, just going up there and seeing what it’s all about, maybe
getting a cup of coffee in September or something, if not before then, that
would be great too. I’m not going to get mad if it doesn’t happen. It doesn’t
happen to a lot of people. It would be great though.”

Would you be open to pitching in relief for the Red Sox
later this year if it filled a need? “Oh, most definitely. I’ve done it before.
I did it in college a couple of times. It’s just more of a mental part of the
game. it’s two different mental sides of the game, relieving and starting. If
you get your mind right, you can do it. it’s not that big of a difference. You
could let it affect you really easily.”

Biggest key to success this year? “Being able to throw
strike one with any pitch that I want to throw it with. Changeup, curveball,
strike one. Then being behind in the count and being able to do the same thing,
throw strikes.”

Being out here on this field with the top prospects in
baseball, “It’s what you play for. This is who you want to be associated with.
It’s an honor to be out here and it’s going to be a great experience.”

Good to see Jacoby here with you? “Oh yeah. Last I heard
he wasn’t going to be able to come, then he called me yesterday and was like, I
am getting to come. He’s on cloud nine right now, I don’t see how anyone could
be above him right now. It was awesome seeing him get to go to Boston, a guy that I came up playing with and
seeing him get a bunch of starts up there.”

Here is the interview with Jacoby Ellsbury:

What kind of whirlwind week has this been for you, “It’s
been a crazy week just finding out that I was going to start in center field
for the Red Sox and hitting ninth. I was up there for six days and then found
out I couldn’t participate in the Future’s Game because I was up there too long
past the deadline. I was headed to Pawtucket to play a doubleheader. Right before I boarded the plane, I found out I could
play in the Future’s Game. it’s been a crazy week. My agent called the Red Sox to verify that I could
participate in the game and the good news was that I can, so I’m excited about
it.”

Meaningful to be on this stage? “It means a lot, especially to play with these guys. A
lot of guys here you’ll see in the big leagues here in the near future. The
guys you hear about, talk about, I’m very excited to be here.”

What did the stint in Boston do for your confidence? “It gives you
a lot of confidence. No matter what you do in the Minor Leagues, you don’t know
what it’s going to be like until you play in front of 40,000 fans. It gives you
the confidence to go back to the Minor Leagues and just continue to improve and
know what you need to work on.”

What surprised you while you were up with the Red Sox?
“Just playing at the Fenway ballpark, just the fans, the intensity, the love of
the game they have. It was fun. it was a great atmosphere to play in and
obviously that’s the only big league park I know as of this moment. But it was
a great experience.”

What do you think of this park? “This is very nice. I’ve
never been to AT&TPark.t’s a long way out
to McCovey Cove.”

Tired after your week? “I’d say going on adrenaline I’m
happy the All-Star break is coming up here. It will be nice to have three days
off and just relax.”

Family never made it to Boston last week, “They didn’t have the
opportunity. I had such late notice that it would have been tough for them to
make it. I’m sure next time they’ll be there for sure. This is the first time
they’ve seen me in a big league ballpark and it’s the first time my mom has
seen me play professionally. So it should be a treat for her.”

I’m glad to see Jacoby Ellsbury in SF, but I’d much rather see him Detroit giving Manny a rest than having a very hapless Wily Mo Pena out there. The Sox should have kept him around until after the all Star break. They didn’t need to bring Bailey up. Hinske could have done very well at first base while Youk is healing. In fact, giving Hinske the playing time would probably have paid dividends in bringing his game up to speed.

I said it last night, and I’ll say it again. How poor is major league umpiring? Did you see that pitch on which Manny got called out? Pathetic.

Well, the sweep is in the books, we’ve got a 3 day rest, and now… It’s time to go inTO the 2nd half. Time to talk about improvements that need to be made: Hopefully the HR derby will be a batting practice thing for Papi. Hopefully Manny will start being Manny after the break. Hopefully JD (nancy) will start to be more effecetive in the field and at the plate. Hopefully Dustin will continue to produce the way he has been, Coco will continue to be as patient at the plate as has been in the past couple of weeks,they’ll bring Jacoby back up and send WMP down (Yeah,right, like that’ll happen), and the biggest HOPE is that we continue to keep this lead that we have. LET IT BE SAID THAT I AM TRULY FULL OF HOPE, though some say I’m full of something else, lol!!!!

Well, it is clear so far that the sox rotation and bullpen is solid, and the offense has no problem getting runners on base, it just seems to disappear when runners are in scoring position – especially when David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and J.D. Drew are at the plate. Hopefully, all three can be more productive in the second half. What is encouraging is that the offense has been up and down, and yet the Sox are still one of the best teams in baseball. I am confident that the bats will be more explosive in the second half.

Just a reminder, for those of you SOx fans in Florida, I am coordinating a get-together at the Saturday, July 28 Sox-Devil Rays game at Tropicana Field. If you would like to try to get seats in the same section, and/or meet after the game at Ferg’s (the sports bar adjacent to the stadium that becomes a Red Sox sports bar when the Sox are in town), drop me a note at Sox and Pinstripes, or send me an e-mail.

That’s 6 in a row on the road for the Sox. Sox Leads the majors in OBP but they also lead the majors in GIDPs(Manny leads the league among all players this season). The 3,4 & 5 hitters are supposed to be the guys who bring the runners home. The rest of the line-up’s job is to get on base infront of the 3,4 &5 hitters. All 3 r stuggling to bring the runners home and that is the biggest problem of the redsox in the first half of the season. These have to come around if the Sox have to do well in the 2nd half or if the Sox have to go deeper into playoffs.

Yankeev – when did I say Wang was not an ace? My point was he was equally as good as Santana when I said he won as many games. In fact, he was my Cy Young pick at the start of the year. You were just pointing out the stat about Santana never losing at home which I don’t think is the full picture.

Interesting stat for the Sox in the first half. Sox are hitting .255 on the ROAD good for 19th in the majors. That’s a major drop on the ROAD.Also the OBP is .340 on the road good for 4th. They actually lead the majors in this category overall.

Jeff:regarding the Tropicana trip, I did “drop you a line at Sox and pinstripes and here at Brownie Points, but haven’t to date gotten a response. When:What section etc!! David and I would love to go over there and see the park and of course the Sox!! ..and it would be really great to finally meet you in person. Hey, maybe we can talk Ian into stopping in to have an icy one with us after the game!! I really enjoyed meeting him last summer at the Marlins v Sox.

Well,it was another tough one guys.The thing that really concerns me is,well I beleive we will hold on to make the play offs.The thing is,I do not see any national league team out there that could really beat us,the best would be the Mets.Even at that I believe we have the depth to beat the Mets in 6 games or so.The key thing if you ask me is making the play offs,then surviving through the American League play off teams in the ALDS and ALCS.Lets say we face a team like Detroit or the Angels in the ALDS.If we cannot score runs,we won’t win.I trust our pitchers to be consistant but the offense is worrying me a bit.We need to get through these AMerican League powers to get to the promised land and to have a championship brought back to Boston.We can do it if our offense can get going.I mean,we need Manny and David to hit like Manny and David.If those two get going and our pitching holds up,we will be unstoppable.This is all making me sort of nervous but I am confident we will have a hot second half.

The turning point of this game, in my eyes, was when Robertson just barely hit Ortiz with the 0-1 pitch.

Papi has been swinging the bat for power in this series, and instead of coming up with a big hit, he is forced to take first base and only one run scores.

The OTHER turning point was that horrific called third strike on Manny in the 8th. That ball was almost scooped off of the ground by the catcher, and it completely changed the game. Think about it: if that was called a ball, Manny would have walked with Coco on 3rd. Then Lugo doubles and Manny is AT LEAST at 3rd with 1 out.

As good as Wang is,he is not Johan Santana.Wang is a good pitcher,but if you ask me,I would rather have Santana start a big game 5 or 7 for me than Wang.Wang is really good though.Yankee fans might get on my case for supporting Santana here,but stats prove me right.

Ian: Its time for the Red Sox, to say good bye to some nice guys. Willy Mo stuck out one third of his at bats, lately looking. Wake is a .500% pitcher, and we can’t beat Detriot with him. Hinske, stinks. Lugo, great team mate, but a bust. Timlin is finished and has to go, also. We have to win, and this is the year.

I can’t believe Timlin pitched 2 scoreless innings today and he pitched a scoreless inning last night. What has the world come to? No Yankee fan would ever take Wang over Santana, what ***** would???? Then again we are talking about Yankees fans here!!! Santana is the best starting pitcher in baseball and there is no doubt about it!!!!

I loved you comments Brian,lol.Well a friend of mine is a die hard yankee fan.He always does dumb things like compare Melky Cabrera to Pete Rose and etc.Anyways,I believe Johan Santana,Erik Bedard,and maybe Franciso Liriano when he returns are the best of the best.Wang does crack down more often than they do.

I am fairly confident that we will have three players with 100+ RBI’s by the end of the season: Ortiz, Lowell, and Ramirez. Out of these 3 and just looking at numbers, it appears that Manny will have the toughest time topping 100 but come on, he’s Manny Ramirez. He’s going to hit.

Timlin has put up a couple of scoreless innings, which is a relief. But at the same time, we have Delcarmen and a soon-returning Donnelly to depend on for RHP in the ‘pen, so Timlin should enjoy his role as mop-up man and gets his 1000 IP.

I agree that Wily Mo has to go, although I’m sure many would be saying otherwise had he not been robbed of a HR today. But regardless, the Sox need to ship him off and hopefully find an OF who can serve as a late defensive replacement. With that obviously comes speed, although I am confident in Ellsbury’s role on the team as this year’s Dave Roberts.

Lugo is definitely showing signs of breaking out of his slump. I think the most telling was when he took a high fastball with an 0-2 count from Robertson and parked it over the left field fence. For the past 2 months, he has been either swinging and missing at that pitch or popping it up to the infield.

Plus the guy only has 5 less RBI’s than our clean-up hitter. Another multi-hit game and he’ll be back above the Mendoza Line and hopefully on his upwards to a .250 finish.

Back to my original point about the 100+ RBI players, I know experts were projecting Drew to put up somewhere around 100 RBI’s hitting 5th in this Sox order, but if he finishes with 70-80 RBI’s, a .280 average, and a .390 OBS, I don’t think anybody is going to mind.

If Lowell was not producing at this rate though, it would be a different story.

I agree.Also about Lugo,he has been more calm now at the plate.He seems to be seeing the pitches well.I agree we should do our best to ship off Wily Mo.That way,we can make room for Ellsbury.Ellsbury would bring so much more energy to the club as well as play a fine defensive outfield and running job on the bases. If anything,he is faster than Dave Roberts ever was.Lowell has really taken advantage of his spot in the line up and the green monster.He is putting in tremendous effort for us and I think he will end up being a franchise player here in Boston.I love the guy.Manny and David are bound to go on a tear and looks like it will happen now in the second half.Drew continues to heat up plus Coco and now Lugo.Also if Dustin and Youk continue,our line up will be one of the best around to go with our outstanding pitching.Then getting Schilling back down the stretch,we look great.Lets go out and win!LETS GO SOX!

I have confidence in Lugo turning it around, i’m guessing he’ll end up around .250 at the end of the season. J.D. Drew where is the power? I thought at the beggining of the year that Mrs. J.D. Drew would hit 20 H.R. and also how many wall hits does Drew have? His wonderful agent ( sarcasism there about wonderful agent ) said his stroke is tailor made for Fenway and should hit alot of balls off the monster. I would like to see the Red Sox pickup a reliever and some bench help, let’s hope Willy Mo is shipped out as well, him sitting on the bench does nobody any good. Let’s hope Ramirez and Oritz will wake up in the 2nd half, where has there power gone????? When the season started I thought Ramirez and Oritz would combine for at least 70 H.R.’s, safe to say I will be off on that one!!! I would assume just like everyone else that they will start hitting the long ball!!!

Absolutely Brian.I hope so too.I am already hearing rubbish from these Yankee fans about how we waste money because of the JD Drew signing and etc.They can be such a nuisance at times. >.<
Lets go sox!

I think the Sox are stuck with Wily Mo unless they just release him. I don’t think he has any real trade value at this point.

I doubt the Sox will bring Ellsbury up until September. They want him to play every day and right now, there’s no way for him to do that in Boston. They’d never put him in a Dave Roberts role until possibly September when Pawtucket is done. The only way he gets back is if the Sox deal Crisp, and I don’t think the Sox believe Ellsbury is ready to take on that role every day yet.

I wouldn’t start up the Lugo bandwagon yet. It was good to see him have a good day though.

Wonder what the Sox record without Youk in the lineup is?

Looks like Tito decided to give the Sox an extended All Star break and was willing to give up the Detroit series.

Four games with Toronto right after the break. A good time to set the tone for the rest of the season.

Tough August – 19 Road Games including a West Coast Swing and a trip to the Bronx. If they can play a few games above .500 through the end of August, they should be in good shape for the home stretch.

Jeff, count me in for the game on the 28th. Let me know where you’ll be sitting so I can get tickets. Look forward to meeting some of you bloggers.

Ironically, myself, the Yankees fan and Brendan, the Red Sox fans were arguing about Wang and Santana. But I said Santana was far and away better and Brendan said (last year) Wang was just as good. So this isn’t a case of Yankees fans tooting Wang’s horn.

However, this season Santana is 10-6, Dice K, 10-6 and Wang 9-4…Santana has the best ERA and Dice K the worst. With Beckett on the Sox, he is their ace right now, Santana on the Twins and Wang on the Yankees.

I would say Wang is prob a top 5 pitcher in the American League, but I don’t know if I take anybody in baseball in a big spot over Santana….Unless of course, it’s the playoffs because the Twins aren’t going to win regardless of who’s pitching.

Bedard is certainly great and for a weak team.

Liriano was good for half a season, let’s see him pitch for a little bit before we annoint him as a top 3 pitcher in baseball.

I feel like if your friend compared Rose to Melky it was some obscure thing they had in common and not as overall players.

and the Yankees offense, when it is on, CAN beat any pitcher. Nobody has been more lights out than Haren this year and the Yankees pumped him for 5 runs. Beckett had a non quality start, Dice K has had two. John Maine when he was lights out got lit up.

Lot’s of good things from the first half.
From Pedroia to Okijima to Lowell and the solid pitching.

The biggest concerns I see going into the 2nd half is the clutch hitting, or lack there of.

Papi, Manny and Drew have done nothing in the clutch this year. We saw the stats in 7th inning or later situations and it’s just terrible.

What does is say about our big $15 million dollar right field aquisition when Francona pinch hits for him in extra innings Saturday night? Yes, I know Youk is guy that pinch hit for him, but he hasn’t played in 5 days and you’re going to put him in that spot after he’s been hurting and hasn’t seen live pitching in almost a week? Now, let’s say Youk does have to go on the DL, it will be retroactive to the last game he played, which was Saturday instead of Wed. I don’t get it.

Wily Mo is a liability. He does nothing at the plate (the whole world knows to throw him curve balls and it’s an automatic wiff) and he does even less in the field. We hear talk of him needing playing time and that he’s got potential. Enough! If he needs playing time, he should have got it last year in August and September when the team mailed it in after the 5 game Yankee massacre. Trying to hold onto the division isn’t the time to give him an at bat once every 5 days. All is means is at least 2 strikeouts with men in scoring position and that much more open territory in the outfield.

We’ve gone on and on about Lugo, so I won’t hammer that point. Figures, the one guy that has a good game on Sunday, now has to have 3 days off to ruin his momentum!!

Anyway, I hope Manny and Ortiz find their stroke in San Francisco.

Let’s enjoy the break and revel in the good things that happened and hope for positive outcomes in the 2nd half.

I actually laughed when I saw somebody label Liriano as one of the best pitchers in the AL. The guy pitched half of a season and then injured himself for the next year+. But I do agree that he has all the makings of a successful pitcher: lefty, hard-throwing, devastating slider, and a change-up that has been compared to Santana’s. With that being said, if success was measured by expectations and potential, pitchers like the Orioles’ Daniel Cabrera would be perennial Cy Young finalists.

The best pitcher in baseball right now, from what I’ve seen, is Chris Young. Between his height, his Foulke-like delivery, and his velocity, he seems unhittable. I have watched a couple of his starts, including the one vs. the Red Sox when he completely plowed his way through our lineup three times with no problems. In my opinion, this guy should have been considered to start for the NL, not voted on for the last roster spot.

In the AL, I’d go with Santana, Beckett, and Bedard (not necessarily in that order). Bedard is on pace for 271 strikeouts, Beckett is on pace for 21 wins, and Santana is on pace to begin his annual 2nd half dominance of the AL.

Once again, all of this “on pace” talk means nothing because anything could happen, but if the 1st half of the season tells us anything, these three guys look to be the top dogs in the AL.

To me, Wang can be dominant but it’s a different type of dominance. He’s not going to strike out 12 hitters in a game but if that heavy sinking fastball is on, there’s no way to get the ball in the air which is obviously going to translate into less runs for the other team.

About Liriano,he has all the great stuff in the world.If he can stay healthy next season and keep good command of his pitches and hit locations,he will be quite a force out there.I have to agree that Bedard has really come a long way.Also about the Yankees lighting up all the ebst pitchers,not true.I seen them get beat good by a lot of pitchers.The Rockies starters and a couple of the Toronto starters,also not to mention John Lackey.Also my buddy who compared Mely to Rose,I asked him in what way.He said that melky can get just as much hits as Pete Rose.I do not really know about him getting 4,000+ hits but he is still young and can be a pretty good hitter.Speaking of offense,if David and Manny snap out of it and hit a hot streak tear along with Drew getting on track,maybe Lugo,also count the great efforts of Coco,Youk,and Dustin.If we get everything to come together at the same time,we will dominate the second half.Looks like Timlin is getting back on track too.Just think,a bullpen with a solid Timlin,Delcarmen,Oki,and Paps.Out starters wouldnt even have to go 7 innings on a regular bases(yet they do).Not to mention Javy Lopez getting lefties and even Snyder hasn’t been so bad.Then Schilling coming back healthy later on in the season.Just think about it.Then Jon Lester?I think,we will dominate the second half.Lets go sox!

As Vince said, “when the offense is on, they CAN beat any pitcher”, but I can’t fully agree with that. The Yankees got SHUT DOWN by John Lackey, then the next day the BUST OUT on Ervin Santana. Also the day before that the Yankees scored 14 runs, the day before that 7. To me it seems like the offense was “on”, and that Lackey plain BEAT YOU. Another example is on the 15 of June Mets v. Yankees when Perez shut out the Yankees. The two games against Arizona before that game, the Yankees scored 7 runs in each, was the offense “on” then, and you still couldn’t beat Oliver Perez.
Those are only a few example actually.

rsjones makes some great points.Remember,good pitching will usually trump good hitting.Like John Lackey for example,he had everything going for him.He was getting ahead of the hitters and was mixing in his breaking ball with his fastball.Oliver Perez is a good pitcher who seems to have the Yankees number.

Red Sox are 2nd in OPS, but 7th in runs scored. That definitely shows how bad we are at getting runners in. Double plays and lack of timely hitting is really hurting us right now. Team’s like the A’s are near the top of the league every year, have almost no hitting whatsoever, and usually win 90+ games and make the playoffs. Its really embarressing to finally get the pitching and not be able to convert that into wins consistently. I’m tired of hearing that we have the best record… there are no teams that are on pace for 100 wins this year, so its not all that impressive. We also have a massive payroll and relatively few injuries, so I would expect to be near the top. I think we will definitely need to look to the minors and make a trade or two in the next month to really be sure we’re in, and ready for, the playoffs.

I definitely agree that Howard has a great chance.I would say my pick would be Prince Fielder.His power has been there all year and he is also a lefty swinger.I think he can also take advantage of that right field wall at AT&T park.If he does not win it,then I would believe Howard or Vlad will take it.

Wang was not as good as Santana last year either though. It isn’t even really as close as some of you think. Santana’s ERA was nearly a run lower. He struck out 6 more batters per 9IP. His WHIP was 1.00 vs Wang’s at 1.31. His BABIP was lower. Santana’s “Adjusted ERA” was 161 and Wang’s was 121. He had the same record.

The Yankees gave Wang 6.32 runs a game, while the Twins gave Santana 5.05. That is for those who want to take into account wins, which I dont even really look at. They had the same win/loss record, I know, but that is not a “telling” stat.

See, it wasn’t all that close. Santana is clearly the better pitcher. He is this year, and was last year. Wang is an “ace.” But there are a fair share of “aces.” Santana is the “absolute” best.

Atleast we didn’t get swept by little teams like the Rockies.Also the yankees are 0 -2 against the mighty Tampa Bay Devil Rays! :: Gasp :: So shut up and take your Yankees and shove em up ur ::Bleap Bleap::

I was wondering why that idiot wasn’t commenting lately.Ofcourse,because his team ***** so much.Sentinel of Gods is like one of those turds that just keep floating back up no matter how many times you flush him down.Anyone here who agree with me….Thank you.

Absolutely.The whole win loss thing,you can have a supposed ace with a 5.31 ERA but 20+ wins but his team might average about 9.02 runs per game when he pitches while another guy can have a record of 13-7 with an ERA of 2.99,but his team averages about 2.1 runs per game when he pitches.I would obviously go with the 13 game winner for an ace then the 20+ wins guy.

All good points rayman and I agree, but unfortunately I don’t think much is going to happen.
Simply because it’s the top guns that have been letting the Sox down in clutch situations. 1st and 3rd with one out is an automatic double play with Manny up. Looking at position by position, who could they trade for?

1b-Nope, Youk is solid

2b-Nope, Pedrioa could be in top 3 for ROY

SS-Absolutely except for the fact that he gets $9mil a year and no one will touch him

3B-Nope, Lowell is a rock

DH-uhh, no

LF-Manny-nope

CF-We were hoping so early on, but he’s been the best hitter the past month

RF-Unfortunately no. $15 mil/year for 33RBI’s and no clutch hits and a very average RF at best. Almost a bigger dissapointment than Lugo in my mind. He sits when facing a lefty? Does Todd Helton or Hidei Matsui for that matter, sit when their team plays lefties??

Starting Pitching-Solid

Bullpen-Solid (except for Piniero, Timlin)

Bottom line, for the Sox to be 10 games up with such an inconsistant offense is pretty remarkable. Imagine what the 2nd half will be like if they all get consistent. The starting 9 we have, while dissapointing quite often, has a track record to suggest it will all come together.

While a trade sounds great, who could we get to make an everyday impact?

Wily Mo and Piniero are the only 2 that are worthless, but they have no value.

That said, I guess we have to hope that Manny, Ortiz and Drew remember that we play 9 innings this year and it is OK to get a hit after the 6th.

Someone earlier said that Boras was proclaiming that Drew would be a natural hitter for Fenway (of course that is turning out not to be true). Drew bats lefty, meaning most of the balls he hits go to RF, and right/center. Thats why there is a shift on ortiz etc. Here is Drew spary chart at Fenway Park . . . . .

Drew is a very talented hitter who almost seems hesitant to go all out at times. He doesn’t seem to compromise his swing, which I guess is a good thing. But I would like him to just try and unleash on a few balls once in a while. I have heard that he has “Mickey Mantle like power.” And you can see how much power he has when he “pokes” a ball off the wall in center. Some guys would need to swing hard to hit a ball off the centerfield wall, but I have seen him just stick his bat out there. The one he hit off Weaver earlier in the year is a good example of this. That one was actaully a HR though.

We cannot judge yet on his “knack” for going off of the Monster. That may need a little more time to develop. His power is coming around. Look, at his OPS by month. And his OBP is 25th in the AL, and should get better. I just believe that he should be hitting in front of Ortiz and Manny, eventually they will start driving him in.

I wouldn’t say that Wily Mo and Pineiro have NO trade value, we could get something in return, just not something valuable. Hinske may be good bait, but that would wear down our bench.

Texas might be a possible destination for Coco, since the aging Kenny Lofton is there. Coco and Hansen maybe add Bowden or Masterson for Gagne? Move Jacoby to center? Possible?

It stinks that Buerhle was resigned by the White Sox, it also stinks that Haren and Peavy are annouced as the All Star starters. Haren was shaky his last start, and Chris Young or Brad Penny would have been a better choice for the NL. Though it is hard to doubt to great managere like Leyland and LaRussa.

I actually thought he was doing well when he was in the leadoff spot. Less pressure, no one on base, etc. But when Coco turned it on, he seemed like a better fit since he is more of a stolen base threat.
Either way, all these gripes aside, the Sox are still a 1st place team and quite honestly they have been pretty darn inconsistent and looking very average at times all while playing one of the tougher 1st half schedules.

Things could be a lot worse! I think it starts with the 3/4 guys. Once they start clicking, this 2nd half could be a runaway. If they stay they way they’ve been, we’ll be counting on the starting pitchers to be strong all the way to the end.

I missed yesterday’s game, but after looking at the box score, can someone please tell me how they failed to win? 6 walks, one hit batter, FIVE Detroit errors. How many gifts do you need from the other team to beat them? Sox should have won the last two games of that series.
Sox team will be swept out of the playoffs if they go in with this type of clutch hitting. How is it possible that 3-4-5 hitters simultaneously choke in the clutch? Doesn’t seem right to me. Is there something in the water? You guys have gone over this in infinite detail but I want to know how this is even possible. Law of averages? Bad karma? What can explain this? All thses guys are talented hitters, how can they be unproductive time after time? ‘Splain it to me, Lucy!

You’re right RSJ. We could get something for those 2. I meant to imply that they don’t really have the trade value to get the Sox what they need in return. My bad, I should have clarified that.
I’m not sure either one of these 2 would get the Sox a strong arm in the pen or a solid starter.(since there aren’t any solid starters on the market anyway).

Beckett, Dice-K, Wakefield, Gabbard, Tavarez.

Take away the Seattle game, and Gabbard has done more than enough to fill in for Schill. Tavarez just scares me. It seems like you never know what you’re going to get with him. The fact that the bats haven’t woken up yet, puts added pressure on the guys on the mound to try and be perfect, which is a testament to how well these guys have pitched all year.

Putting Drew in the leadoff spot doesn’t force him to swing the bat, all he has to do is get on base, draw walks, and thats what he has been doing. If he bats 5th the situation is the opposite. Drew is batting .276 and has a .353 OBP in the leadoff spot, with RISP he is batting .225, with a .373 OBP, he isn’t doing what he is supposed to be doing in those situations, HES DOING THE OPPOSITE!!! I heard that LaRussa, when Drew played for the Cards liked to bat him second in thr batting order.

Well, since there will be plenty of more time to rip into JD and Lugo the rest of the season, what do you say we recap the 1st half?

Best game?—-I’d have to go with the Mother’s Day game against Baltimore scoring 6 runs after 1 out in the bottom of the 9th.

Biggest Surprise?–Oki, the pen, the starters…all good stuff. But I’d say my biggest surprise is that the Sox are 1-30 (or so) in games that they’ve trailed after 8 innings. As we’ve said, imagine how far up they’d be right now if they were clutch.

Biggest Bust? Maybe I should preface this by saying biggest bust except for Lugo. I’ll go with Wily Mo. Granted his playing time has been cut, but can’t they get batting practice pitchers to throw him curve balls in BP?? I would have thought even with limited playing time that he’d have at least 8-9 HR’s by now??

We have to assume that Ortiz and Manny will eventually knock guys in when they are base more frequently right? And this is not the same Manny of the past. Move him down a notch and let him hit with more runners on base.

Among qualified batters, those five are all in the Top 25 in OBP in the AL. Varitek is actually 26th too. Manny is still a good hitter, but he [might] not be a great hitter now. So having him bat fifth isnt as big a deal, especially since this is a lineup that has enough hitters to make up for it. Drew’ career OBP is 110 percentage points higher than his average, that is his best quality. Bill James works for the Red Sox, and that is why they got Drew, to get on base. He also has some power. But he takes walks, and he can still do that in the two-hole. This would also keep the RH/LH/RH/LH/RH lineup that they intend to keep.

I would say the ‘pen, and Oki are surprises, but mostly during the off season we were confident in the rotation. The Padres are 0-18 in 1 run games ;). Its been said that a players ” peak power years” are between the ages of 30-36, we signed Drew for those years. Hope it Pans out.

Hey guys, at work and I probably shouldn’t be posting, but hey, I’m a Red Sox fanatic :D

Anyway, RSJ brings up a good point about Drew and where he batted in LaRussa’s line up while with the Cards. LaRussa, plain and simple, is a very good manager IMHO. So perhaps, like I’ve said before, we may have another Johnny Damon on our hands here. Heck, Youk and Lowell can protect Manny with the season they’ve been having.

Plus, if Theo & Co. decide to go in another direction after this season at 1st and 3rd base, and try to sign Mark Teixeira and move Youk back to 3rd, just imagine how the line up would become then? Granted he’s a Boras client, but I think Theo & Co. have good experience working with/against Boras (Dice-K’s contract should ring a bell).

Oh and if this hasn’t been posted yet, I got this straight from ESPN.com:

“With his power production far less than what it has been over the past few years, Ortiz called former Red Sox hitting coach Ron Jackson for help, reports the Boston Herald. Jackson pointed out some issues with Ortiz’s hands, elbow and where the bat is finishing.”

Maybe there is something to be said for hitting coaches…I personally felt Papa Jackson got a raw deal last season and he should not have been fired.

I’m going with Ryan Howard, Rios could be a darkhorse!!! I hope Kenny Mayne gets hit in the head by a H.R. ball!!! I will say whoever thought about having him out there in a kayak, that was a very smart move, he is the perfect personality to be out there!!! Attention Yankee fans, when and IF your team gets over .500 for 14 days in a row, you can talk, until then SHUT UP!!!!

Thanks pacol, but the credit goes to Tony. Actually in tonights game LaRussa scheduled Bonds to bat 2nd, he says the number 2 hitter is one who gives presence, I don’t know how Drew works into that. Another stratagy constructed by LaRussa that I will impliment. In the NL All Star line-up Reyes is leading off, then comes Bonds. LaRussa thinks that if reyes gets on, the pitcher will thorw more fastballs to counter the stealing thaert, which giv4es Bonds better pitches to hit. In a way we could work that into our line-up effectivly (maybe for struggling hitters) :

A combo of:

Crisp Crisp Drew

Drew Lugo Crisp

Ortiz

Or we could move Crisp down in the order so he could be in front of Wily Mo. The possiblities are endless.

It’s much easier for a right handed hitter to hit HR’s in San Francisco so I am going to go with a dark horse and pick Alex Rios.

I would have said Vladdy but you know how most players like to let their personal pitcher find the strike zone? Vlad is such a free swinger his pitcher better be perfect or else Guerrero will be swinging from his shoetops.

Melky will never have 4000 hits. He will be lucky to get 2000. I love the guy but Pete Rose is one of a kind and even Jeter is a stretch to get near 4,000.

Ok so Casey Fossum owns the Red Sox, does that mean they can’t beat any pitcher? I mean saying specific pitchers who have shut down the Yankees is such a ridiculous argument. The Yankees destroy Scott Kazmir, he must STINK! What kind of argument is that? The Yankees offense has the talent to beat up any pitcher, by no means whatsoever does that mean they will. They killed Markum last year, and were owned by him this time, Oliver Perez seems to own them in two starts. John Lackey had a 5+ ERA against the Yankees into his last two starts and he has been great the last two. You don’t argue on a case by case basis, that is absurd.

Haren has a 2.20 (2.30?) ERA and a 10-3 record. Who do you name the starter? Nobody comes close, it was a great choice. You can make your arguments in the NL, but Chris Young was an internet vote in, obviously he’s not the popular choice regardless of his numbers.

Good evening to all!! Has Jeff gotten back with ANYONE regarding what section they have tickets in for the July 28 tampabay game??? or am I the only one who doesn’t have the info??? If anyone does have it, PLEASE let me know!!! I have to put in for time off from work and REALLY REALLY want to go!!!!
HR derby has really low #’s so far this year.

I’m disappointed, I’m not going to be able to see “The Bronx is Burning” tonight, I’ll have to be in bed as that is coming on. I really did want to see that. Somebody please watch and tell me how it was.

I loved the fact that Papi has Vlad’s back and gave him the “PAPI bat”. He was really slouching before that. now he’s in the 2nd round.. Papi’s nothing if not a great big kid who just truly enjoys spending time with people he enjoys!!!

Vlad is the man. I saw highlights of the Derby and when he hit his 3rd homer in the last round (which clinched a victory) he didn’t even watch the ball land, he just tossed his bat aside.

Good pitching trumps good hitting, it’s one of those baseball cliches. If any ace-caliber pitcher is “on his game” then it doesn’t matter how hot the Yankees, or any other lineup, is.

Take A-Rod at his best and put him up to the plate against some ace who throws a nasty splitter. If A-Rod is seeing the ball well, that doesn’t mean he is going to hit the splitter off of a bounce and over the fence. He’ll probably just not swing and take the pitch for a ball.

I don’t know if what I’m saying is making sense exactly, but my point is that it’s easier for a pitcher who is “on” to dominate a hot hitter rather than vice-versa.

For those of you who plan on attending the Sox-Devil Rays game on Saturday, July 28 at Tropicana Field, I will let you know a recommended section later today (I am about to finally go to bed; it is 3 a.m. ET!). It will be a section in the outfield, or near the bullpen. We can also get together afterwards at Ferg’s. I’ll let you know a recommended section for tickets later today.

By the way, I saw The Bronx is Burning.” I thought it was interesting – at least the baseball part. It did not make sense how they tried to weave in the Son of Sam murders. Maybe it will tie together better in future episodes. I love baseball history, and I remember the Yankees of the late 70s since I was a kid who followed baseball closely. The firsrt episode portrayed Billy Martin as a much kinder person than he was known for in real life. It also portrayed Reggie Jackson as a detriment to the clubhouse and a threat to Thurmon Munson.

Well, as usual I’m a little late to the party, but I also have some worries about Boston’s post season chances. I’m not worried about them getting there, as I don’t see them losing their hold on the top spot in the division.

But take a closer look at their “best record in baseball.” 19-9 vs. AL East team, but a combined 22-19 against the AL Central and West teams. That includes 13 games against Texas and KC, for cripe’s sake. That best record in baseball is completely built on interleague play (12-6) and their being in the AL East, which is one of the worst divisions in the majors right now. (When’s the last time you heard anyone say THAT about the AL East?)

Fortunately, 44 of their remaining 75 games are against AL East teams; and of the other 31 games, 12 are against teams that are also under .500. All of which bodes well for making the playoffs by winning the AL East in fine fashion.

But what about once they get past the regular season? Here are their records against Detroit, Cleveland, LA and Seattle, the four teams that the Sox would appear to have the best chance of meeting in the playoffs:

DET: 3-4

CLE: 2-1

LAA: 3-0

SEA: 2-4

Not terrible, but not terrific either. Let’s hope the big Sox hitters start hitting like they should, and the Sox meet Cleveland or LA in the playoffs.

Even scarier than that Rob, is WHEN the Sox played those good teams that they beat earlier.
They took 3 of 4 from Detroit when they were struggling and Sheffield was only hitting about .250 at the time. LA is a completely different team than when the Sox played them from a confidence and continuity perspective. I think Sizemore got 1 hit in the Cleveland series, and how often is it going to happen when you hold him down in a series?

Bottom line, they did the job when they had to vs. those teams. Now we run into the talk about them having a better record last year at this point and we all know what happened then.

Like you said, I think they will be OK in making the playoffs, but they need much more consistency from the bats if they are going to make a dent.

Big test in Halladay to start the 2nd half. I hope Rios got all his long ball out of the way last night.

Detroit & LAA were definetely at a slight disadvantage when we played them earlier at home. The same thing goes for Sox when they played Vs Mariners & Detroit. For the Mariners series they were at the end of that brutal west coast trip. That trip should have taken a toll definetely on the Sox as all 3 teams they played on that trip are very good teams(above .500, hot, at home, division leaders or in playoff contention).

Also against Tigers we didn’t have our best offensive player so far this season, Youk not in the line-up. Also as u mentioned Sheff was not hitting well when Tigers played Sox, So is heart of the Sox lineup(Papi & Manny) when they played tigers.

Also once Shil & Donnelly are back the sox pitching should be even better. Hopefully Lester will be back with a bang and will contribute for the rest of the season and many seasons to come.

Also against the M’s we threw Gabbard, and Tavarez, to go along with Dice-K.

The Tigers are on fire right now and are the best team now, but if Schilling comes back and can pitch well enough, then this team is fine from a pitching standpoint. They have the lowest bullpen ERA, by far in the AL. I would like to add a bat, no doubt. But at what cost. I would rather have parted ways with Ellsbury then Buchholz, but now after seeing Ellsbury, I dont want them to trade either of them. I really don’t watch them to touch any arms with real potential either. But if we can trade Wily Mo and Craig Hansen for something I would be ok with that. Don’t know what we could get in return. With Delcarmen, Okajima, and Pap in the bullpen, and all young, Hansen is more expendable. Even though I would like to have him too for the future, but you have to give it something if you want something valuable in return. Especially with GM’s being so much more hesitant, I’ve heard, not wanting to trade away a Liriano or Kazmir.

Despite my somewhat doom and gloom post, I honestly think that if the offense starts firing on all cylinders more consistently, the Sox have as good a chance at winning another World Series as anyone. Even if they continue to play the way they have, they’ll most likely still make the playoffs, and who knows, maybe they’ll get hot at just the right time.

Speaking of World Series, it’s interesting to see that an otherwise insignificant event in July can have a major impact in October. As we all know, tonight’s game, thanks to Mr Bud Selig, will determine home field advantage for the next W.S. So for a Sox fan ( as well as a Tigers, Indians, A’s or Angels fan ) it might be a good idea to cheer for the AL team tonight.

Who knows, maybe that All-Star game will put Fenway under the spotlights for game 1 and 2 of the next World Series …….. :)

According to the O’s official website, the Orioles don’t want to trade Tejeda, but they know he is their biggest “trade chip”. Andy McPhail is a solid GM, he should be easy to negotiate with. The O’s DL is expansive with damaged ‘pen pitchers, that maybe we could lure a trade with Hansen(doubtful), they probaly would want Delcarmen.

For those of you interested in meeting at the Saturday, July 28 game between the Sox-Devil Rays, I can get a block of eight tickets for $26 each (including the Ticket Master convenience charge) in Section 137 (left field) Row DD. If anyone is interested, please let me know. Perhaps I can book the tickets, and you can mail me the money if you want to buy tickets for yourself. Face value, of course! Drop me an e-mail or a comment at Sox and Pinstripes to let me know. If there is enough interest for eight tickets (I will need just one for myself, and maybe a second if my girlfriend can go, so there will be six or seven spare tickets if I book these eight tickets), I need to know by Thursday since the game is drawing closer.

I agree; let’s give Lugo more time. I also think that the Sox match up well against Detroit, Cleveland and the Los Angeles Angels – especially in a five-game and seven-game series. I would like to see a big bat as well, but where will you put it? The Sox should not deal Mike Lowell, who leads the team in home runs and RBI, and is hitting .300. Drew is not going to be moved. If the Sox can bring in a productive shortstop, maybe so, but who is available? I don’t like the idea of Tejada, especially since he is recovering from an injury.

Joseph, it will be a challenge for Theo Epstein to find any takers for Julio Lugo since he is signed for a 4-year, $32 million deal. The only way the Sox can get a new shortstop is to get a team to take Lugo because they are not going to keep him as an $8 million a year utility player. Lugo is showing signs of breaking out of the slump. Let’s see what he does in July. I do imagine that Theo is looking for a new shortstop as I write this. He always is!

So I should be packing up and leaving work since there’s nothing left to do, but hey, I’ve got an hour and a half left, why not watch the All-Star Game respond here? :-)

sentinel: Yes Detroit rocked our world, but wait the last time I checked the Yankees were under .500 for the first time at the break in a long time. They footsteps you speak of is the teams they face after the break, which any Yankee fan will hope they can rattle off another win streak like earlier this season. However, your insults fail to highlight any of those points in your argument so congrats, you get the “I am an angry adolescent” award.

Chman, probably not wise to make that statement when they just took two out of three from the angels, their only loss was 13 innings and they scored 27 runs in 3 games against that pitching. They also swept Cleveland the only time they played them.

It is so easy to make a case for the Sox being better than the Yankees this year, you can start with the 10 game seperation, but that comment is not it.

Detroit just ran over the Sox, I wouldn’t disrespect them like the Yankees did last year.

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